ArchiTreats at ADAH

"The Gentle Giant of Dynamite Hill: The Untold Story of Arthur Shores and His Family's Fight for Civil Rights" by Barbara S. Shores

Between 1948 and 1963, some 50 unsolved Ku Klux Klan bombings happened in Birmingham’s Smithfield neighborhood, earning it the nickname 'Dynamite Hill.' Prominent Civil Rights attorney Arthur Shores lived with his family in this neighborhood and was a frequent target. In 1963, the Shores’ home was bombed twice and in 1965 the family narrowly escaped a third Klan bombing. Join us this month as Shores’ daughter, Barbara, gives a firsthand account of her father’s early work and the turbulent and forceful years of the 1960s. Her story is about the family’s struggle and her father’s strength and commitment and the faith that brought them through that tumultuous period.

Barbara S. Shores is co-author, along with her sister, Helen Shores Lee, of The Gentle Giant of Dynamite Hill. This book gives the sisters’ firsthand accounts of growing up with their father and the family’s struggles during the 1960s. Shores is a graduate of Talladega College and the University of Illinois. She is a frequent speaker on topics of Civil Rights at schools, universities, and many other organizations around the nation.

This ArchiTreats presentation is made possible by the Friends of the Alabama Archives and a grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The public is invited to bring a sack lunch and enjoy a bit of Alabama history.